The Final Four

McBride spots Bacic reaching out a hand to help MJ to his feet. He runs across and picks a fight with Bacic, telling him to “go worry about your own players” (48). McBride helps MJ to his feet but criticizes him for failing to make the shot. In the huddle, the coach advises the Spartans to target Rice and have him expelled for too many fouls.

A year and seven months before the game, McBride sneaks out of his house with a photo of his dead sister and has her face tattooed on his arm at a house party. The tattoo artist creates a lifelike image of Trisha on his arm and then tells him to keep it covered to prevent infection. Later that night, McBride returns home. His parents are worried about where he has been, but the sight of Trisha on his arm calms them down.

On the day of the game, a national newspaper runs a piece on college athletes and their struggles to get paid for their work. The colleges make hundreds of millions of dollars from athletics, but the students are not allowed to receive any money other than a scholarship. The colleges “assert that it is necessary to ensure the integrity of the amateur competition” (51).